Kind of in the same boat. I didn't plan on going to Dapper Day this fall (Nov 12-13) and then my daughter asked the other day if we could go (heck yeah!). She was hoping for Blue Bayou but there was nothing available. So I used mouse dining (you set dining alerts for what you want and it notifies you if something comes up). I set one for Blue Bayou and got a res yesterday. You have to be quick, though! My trip is farther off than yours but I do recommend trying the dining alerts. People do cancel, especially as it gets closer to your dates, and getting an alert when someone does is awesome.
Tip: I use the free version. The biggest downside for me is that it only emails you. If you get a paid subscription, it will text you. I am much more likely to see it and grab the reservation with a text, but I'm also cheap. There is a way to game the system by converting your cell number into an email format that gets sent to your phone as a text. I know that sounds weird, but it works. Each cell carrier has a unique code that you can add to your cell number that will convert it from email into a text. For instance, I have Verizon, so mine is my 10-digit cell
number@vtext.com
Here's a list of carriers and what you would add to your cell number to get it as a text:
https://avtech.com/articles/138/list-of-email-to-sms-addresses/
You have to be ready to jump on it if you get a notification. I make sure I'm logged in to
Disneyland.com and Mouse Dining so if an alert comes through I can go straight to the page
Edited to add that in case that wasn't clear, when you sign up with MD for the dining alerts, when it asks for your email you can use your cell number + the carrier's text code (like @vtext .com) to get the alerts as texts rather than emails.